Do Dyslexia Fonts Actually Work? (2022)

Summary

In 1927, Samuel Orton, a neuropsychiatrist, observed that many of his young patients with reading difficulties reversed similar letters, confusing d for b, for example. Concluding that the condition was caused by “directional confusion,” he coined the term strephosymbolia, meaning “twisted symbol.” The characterization, but not the coinage, stuck—and fueled early speculation that what came to be known as dyslexia was a visual disorder that caused printed letters to appear as a confusing, jumbled mess.Since then, a cottage industry of dyslexia-focused products has emerged, hawking everything from prisms to tinted glasses and transparent color overlays. One website catering to dyslexic readers—whose tagline promises to solve “complicated problems with a simple solution”—sells prism glasses, offering up a slew of testimonials touting the product’s benefits. “My reading has improved from 4th grade to college level,” exclaims one satisfied wearer.In the last decade, another contender—typographic fonts designed to alleviate the reading difficulties associated with dyslexia—has entered the popular discourse. The simple, classroom-friendly intervention claims to improve the speed and accuracy of dyslexic readers by adjusting the size and shape of fonts, adding thicker lines to help students distinguish between similar letters. The designers of the fonts claim that the “heaviness” of the letters, for example, prevents them from flipping upside-down or left-to-right, while the arms—the top of a b or d, for example—have varying thicknesses to reduce possible confusion.According to the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity, dyslexia is the most common learning disability, affecting one in five children. Students with dyslexia often struggle to read, prompting teachers to search far and wide for helpful remedies. The market for solutions is large and alluring.But the new fonts—and the odd assortment of paraphernalia that came before them—assume that dyslexia is a visual proble...